Did you know that all the big empires of history basically shared the same geography and grew from there? I'm Dr. Fred, you're listening to another episode of Study, Grow, Know. Welcome to Study, Grow, Know, where we discuss theology, prophecy, and current political issues from a conservative biblical perspective. Here's your host, Dr. Fred DeRuvo. Hi, this is Dr. Fred. When I say all the empires of history that share the same locations geographically, I'm mainly talking about those that are mentioned in Scripture. And we're talking, of course, of the four big ones that appear in Daniel 2, appear in Daniel 7, Revelation 13, Revelation 17, as well as a few of the places in Scripture. Those empires, starting with the Babylonian Empire all the way through the revised Roman Empire, which is yet to appear in history, all share the same geographical location. And I left off yesterday with pointing this out or kind of introducing this concept. Now, if we start with Babylon, the empire that Nebuchadnezzar built, with God's permission, of course, we clearly see the extent of that empire. For the time, it was very, very big. And still, when we get to the Roman Empire, we see just how small the Babylonian Empire was. the area of the Babylonian Empire. And this empire was represented, as a reminder, by the head of gold from the statue in Daniel 2. It went roughly from 606 BC to 536 BC, before being conquered and taken over by the Medes and the Persians. We also know from the Bible, Daniel 5, what the event was that precipitated God's judgment on the Babylonian Empire. Now there we read that Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, Belshazzar, who was king at the time, decided to have a party, you know, for his 1,000 nobles. And during the course of the party, Belshazzar apparently thought it'd be a great idea to send for the quote, gold and silver vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar, his father had taken out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem so that the King and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. That's in Daniel five, chapter two. It's not as a great an idea as Belshazzar originally thought, as we're going to see. And by the way, the text says Nebuchadnezzar, his father, meaning Belshazzar's father. Well, Technically, Nebuchadnezzar was Belshazzar's grandfather, but it was often simply stated as that person's father instead of grandfather or father's father. And so there's no contradiction here in Scripture. It's simply the way it was listed culturally. As far as God was concerned, this was not a brilliant move because it would desecrate these items. They were taken from the temple in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. He had them stored in his vault, in his place where he kept all of his valuables. And so not long after Belshazzar and his guests began drinking from the vessels, and remember once Nebuchadnezzar put them away safely, and of course that's where they stayed, but Belshazzar decided, let's take them out and have some fun with them. So not long after Belshazzar and his guests began drinking from the vessels that had been safely stored in the treasury, a disembodied hand appears and begins writing on the wall. it wrote the words, mene, mene, tekel, ufarsin. Now it took Daniel to gain the knowledge of the interpretation of the words, and more specifically how those words applied to Belshazzar. But consider, consider this, put yourself in this situation. You're having fun with your friends, you're drinking, you're eating, you're otherwise being merry, and all of a sudden you glance over and there is a disembodied hand writing four words on the wall. Now, he was likely slightly drunk to maybe even very drunk. And when he saw this, who knows if he thought he was hallucinating or what, but it certainly scared him as it would scare anybody. a disembodied hand floating in the air, writing on the wall. Now, of course, Belshazzar could actually read the words that were being written and he understood their literal meaning because they were in his language. What he failed to understand, though, is what the words meant for him, how those words applied to him and possibly his kingdom. What did they mean for him as king? So he called Daniel after his mother brought it to his attention, and Daniel explained the meaning to him. And this is what we read in Daniel 5, 26 through 28. God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. Tekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. Perez, or Upharsin, your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and the Persians." Now, if Daniel had not come along to explain what God had meant, Belshazzar would have never understood that. Again, those were words he understood but he didn't know how they meant or what they meant for him. Verses 30 and 31 of Daniel 5 explained what happened next. That same night, Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was slain. So Darius, the mead, received the kingdom at about the age of 62. Now it's very interesting because while Belshazzar was partying with his friends, he thought he was secure in the knowledge that Babylon was a city that was indestructible. There's no way they could break through these gates, which were very, very thick and very, very tall. But what Belshazzar hadn't counted on was the fact that Darius the Mede got the idea to redirect the river that went underneath the wall into Babylon. And then once he did that, he and his men were able to actually crawl under the wall on nearly dry land. So it was pretty, pretty simple for them to do this once they realized how, and I'm sure God gave him the know-how because Babylon was coming to an end. Now, It's interesting to note that while God revealed what would occur as far as which empires would rise up and eventually fall to one that came afterwards, it's also very clear that God himself is ultimately in charge of bringing these things about. And they happen not only according to his plan, but according to his timing. And the better we understand this, the better off we'll be because we will have a more accurate picture of God's sovereignty over the affairs of humanity. Major events don't appear to be happenstance or accidents when we realize just how much God is in charge and in control. In fact, Daniel himself makes this clear in chapter 2 of Daniel. He unequivocally states, quote, let the name of God be blessed. forever and ever. For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs. He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things. He knows. what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him." Daniel 2, 20-22. This is something I don't think we can remind ourselves enough of, can we? I mean, either God is fully in charge or he is not in charge at all. He can't be partially in charge. He is in control of all things and all outcomes, or he isn't. History tends to prove that God is absolutely in charge. And the book of Daniel is one of the best examples of how much in charge God is. And he even went to the point of telling us hundreds and hundreds of years before most of Daniel happened, what was going to happen. God's sovereign. And it is terribly tragic that most people will wait until after they have died and left this earth before they learn that truth. And of course, by then, it's too late if they don't have salvation already. Now, again, I've mentioned this before, in my book, Rome Rising, I've got a whole bunch of charts and maps that I've created and included in the book so that people can get a really good idea of what we're talking about. If you're like me, I'm a visual learner. I need to see things. So I've included those things in the book. Obviously for a radio program, a sermon, you're not going to see these things. You're just hearing my voice. But there is a map on page 63 that shows the Babylonian empire. And it basically goes from the West. It goes from Cyprus, which is an island toward the Eastern edge of the Mediterranean sea. It starts there. It goes all the way across to the Persian Gulf, and it goes up north just above Cilicia, Karsamesh, Nineveh, that area up in there, and down south to probably just below the line where Egypt would, the boundary of Egypt would be on the southern border. So it's a very large kingdom for the time. And what's really fascinating is the geography that Nebuchadnezzar controlled was the same geography that exists today. It remained the same. And even when the next empire came along, the Medes and the Persians, they continued with this same geography, but simply added to it. And what we'll find as we go through the various empires that came into existence after Babylon is that they ultimately merged with the previous empire and usually expanded on that. Eventually the new empire that replaced the previous one became larger, but had originally incorporated the area of the empire that it conquered. Now prior to Babylonian kingdom was Assyria and prior to Assyria was the Egyptian empire. Now as also noted though, God began his countdown as far as Israel is concerned and the times of the Gentiles with Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom of Babylon. This effectively began that specific time, the times of the Gentiles. Because of the way these Gentile nations would rule over Israel and trample Jerusalem underfoot. So the other ones did not do that necessarily, the Egyptian, the Assyrian, but as far as God was concerned, the times of the Gentiles would begin with Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. Now it's also clear from Daniel 2, 7, and 10, and elsewhere, such as areas in Revelation, that these empires take us all the way up to the physical return of Jesus. And I've mentioned that before, but it's important to establish that fact. His return is not simply the event that ends the Tribulation slash Great Tribulation. It is the event that also puts an end to Gentile dominance of Jerusalem. it will be absolutely fantastic to see. And of course, the book of Revelation provides a very vibrant picture of Jesus returning with all of his saints in his train. And I mentioned this before, but do you know when John saw these saints, coming to earth with Christ. If you know Jesus as Savior, if you've received salvation from Him, you were in that group that John saw way in the future. I find that fascinating. That's something to consider, to meditate on, to be extremely grateful for. Just consider that truth for a moment. Consider it. But it all starts way back in history with the Babylonian Empire, though there were empires before that. This is when Gentile rulers began to officially, with God's permission, dominate and tread underfoot Israel and especially Jerusalem, where the Jewish temple was erected. Now consider what this world or that area of the world looks like today. We're very familiar with it. The Temple Mount, though on paper fully owned by Israel, was left in control of the Arabs after the Six Day War of 1967. Big mistake, but that's what they did. Israel didn't want to upset the apple cart, so they allowed Arab control or oversight of the Temple Mount and parts of East Jerusalem, though it was united at that point, to continue. Well, speaking of continuing, we have arrived at the end of our show today. We will continue this next time. We got a lot more to discuss about Israel in the end times, the times of the Gentiles, the whole bit. And we'll talk a little bit more with the Medo-Persian Empire and after that. But until we meet again, I pray that God will open your eyes to show you how blessed you are. You've been listening to Study, Grow, Know with Dr. Fred DeRubo. Please join us each week for new broadcasts that deal with theology, prophecy, and political issues from a biblical, conservative perspective.